We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Mikaelian. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.
Danielle, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I am Armenian-American and my heritage has been incredibly important to me. My history is one of resilience, and my ancestors fled to the US during the Armenian Genocide after losing everything.
Not many Armenian-Americans are represented at Ivy League undergraduate and graduate schools. Having the opportunity to be in these spaces as someone with my background makes me want to be more impactful, do my best to be a positive reflection of my community, and give back. As a Columbia undergraduate, I immediately became involved in campus life, serving on ten different executive boards. I felt fulfilled knowing that I was dedicating my time to improving the experiences of my peers. In this regard, I continued to take on more roles and responsibilities, eventually being honored as Columbia’s 2021 Student of the Year in recognition of my on campus involvement. I also grew the Armenian Society to forty members, coordinating monthly events with individuals like the Prime Minister of Armenia.
I love helping others achieve their goals as well. I particularly enjoy helping others navigate their educational journeys and do my best to serve as a positive role model. Nothing is more rewarding than having an individual tell you that you helped them achieve a dream of theirs. Along these lines, I am passionate about mentoring others. I launched a free college consulting initiative to help students receive free advice and guidance on application materials. I also volunteer to speak at universities across the country, helping students learn how to navigate law school application processes. Recently, I collaborated with an Armenian news outlet called The Armenian Report to launch a “Student Advice Column” to provide advice to the next generation of students. I also routinely hop on calls with younger students to provide them with advice on how to navigate university application processes.
Overall — as one of the only students of my background in these spaces, I’ve learned it’s incredibly important to keep pushing forward and do what I can to be a positive reflection on others of my ethnic background. I have never taken any opportunity for granted and this has helped contribute to my work ethic. Moreover, having faith in my ability to uplift and inspire others encourages me to push forward, no matter the circumstances.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Moving across the country from everything I had ever known has helped me become a more worldly individual who has a better sense of how to positively impact any environment that I find myself in. I first attended Columbia University, majoring in English Literature. I’m currently in my second year at Harvard Law School. Specifically, I have a strong background in law, editorial work, and education.
I became passionate about law due to my desire to use my words more impactfully. As an editor, my impact is limited to pages. As an aspiring attorney, my words have the ability to impact real world companies and clients. As a student at Harvard Law School, I have actively taken advantage of opportunities to provide legal advice to clients alongside practicing attorneys. As a Student Attorney for the Cyberlaw Clinic, I help advise clients on issues related to the Internet, data privacy, copyright, and licensing. I also have actively pursued pro bono work through the Recording Artists Project, a student practice organization helping clients in the entertainment industry. This is in addition to my work with the Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project advising startup clients under the guidance of attorneys from Cooley LLP.
Regarding editorial work, I have worked as an editor for different publications since high school. As a high school student, I interned for SAGE Publications, a leading academic publishing company. I felt invigorated looking at every line in the attempt to improve the sentence structure and catch potential errors. I then served in editorial roles for five different publications at Columbia University. Some highlights included serving as Business Director for the Columbia Undergraduate Law Review and acting as Editor-in-Chief for the Columbia Women in Law and Politics Journal. At Harvard, I again became very involved in editorial work. I work for the essay editing division of a college admissions company throughout my studies. Beyond this, I have actively been involved with various journals at Harvard Law School. I currently serve as the Co-Managing Editor of Print for the Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law. Beyond this, I have edited for the International Law Journal, Business Law Review, Journal on Legislation, and Human Rights Journal.
On the education side, I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to attend Columbia University and Harvard Law School. I dedicated months to scouring the Internet to learn what top colleges and law schools expect from applicants. To do this, I relied on free resources and websites like r/applyingtocollege on Reddit and College Confidential. I now do my best to relay the knowledge I’ve learned through speaking to undergraduate institutions at universities across the United States. I also have seven years of working in college admissions consulting. I have continued working in admissions consulting while pursuing my studies at Harvard. I also work for a college consulting company’s essay editing team, providing feedback and comments on student essays. It is a privilege being part of the educational journeys of other students. Nothing is more rewarding than receiving a call from a student thanking me for helping them receive an acceptance letter from one of their dream schools. I do not take working with my college admissions clients for granted and am always grateful that someone is trusting me to guide them through such a pivotal life event.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One important skill is my reading ability. From a young age, I fell in love with reading. I consistently read, and I remember writing in my admissions essay to Columbia University that the best form of travel is through literature. My reading ability has propelled my entire educational and professional journey. I worked at a major publishing company, SAGE Publications, in high school. I also was president of the school literary magazine. Building on this, I attended Columbia University and majored in English Literature. I then became an editor for five different Columbia University journals, founding Columbia’s Women in Law and Politics journal. I also began working in college admissions consulting, routinely editing essays for students and guiding them through the admissions process. At Harvard, I’ve occupied editorial roles on the Journal on Legislation, Business Law Review, Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law, International Law Journal, and Human Rights Journal.
One other essential quality is kindness. I’m a big believer in paying it forward. I had to dedicate months to learning about how to properly navigate college admissions, law school admissions, and law firm recruiting. Now, I dedicate my time to mentoring the next generation and passing on institutional knowledge. I routinely hop on calls with students and help them edit essays, cover letters, and resumes. I do my best to empathize with students and put myself in their shoes. I currently run a “Student Advice Corner” series for a publication called The Armenian Report, providing free advice in a written format.
One final quality is resilience. If I’m rejected from an organization, I do not give up. I’ve occupied board positions within organizations that originally rejected me as a general member. Beyond this, it’s important to not overly let any situation derail or discourage you. Maintaining faith in yourself, adapting, and bouncing back helps you become impactful in the long run.
Regarding how to hone these skills, I think having faith in yourself and your abilities is important. Beyond this, we are always learning and growing as human beings. I would advise individuals to use every life experience as a learning opportunity, building their skills along the way.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I have been incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a fantastic support system in my most difficult of times. I am grateful to my family, professors, and classmates for their continued guidance and support. Moreover, I feel fortunate to have befriended so many wonderful upperclassmen at Columbia and Harvard. They helped me adapt to very rigorous educational environments and learn how to succeed in these spaces. Whether it was through sharing outlines or advice on law firm recruiting, they helped me take crucial next steps in achieving my goals.
At Harvard, I have also been privileged to attend a wide variety of events featuring speakers from different industries. Hearing their stories has helped me understand the many career paths that may be available to me going forward.
Contact Info:
- Other: https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/latest/take-five/danielle-mikaelian-21-was-incredibly-grateful-college-journey?fbclid=IwAR2HNsDrfRYqyCEdEQFdhqacTCRiJj-nSeZH2ynV63mpzAdwyBv5R-vpzLg_aem_AZ6JgPlS772yRyL9r1ljqPhBP9DsYHt2lghBMtm-UGFJ2vYRj-B7FnCtNLFQRU6o8oRSoqCK5ucMm5BZp-DySK4N https://hlrecord.org/mentoring-others-and-giving-back-as-a-harvard-law-student/ https://huysfoundation.org/scholars/danielle-mikaelian/
